Residents, bidder sue Monroe over theater deal

Thursday

Dec 20, 2012 at 2:00 AMDec 20, 2012 at 7:28 AM

Three Monroe residents and an unsuccessful bidder have sued the Town of Monroe, claiming its decision to purchase a closed movie theater for use as offices and courts violated state open meeting and environmental laws.

James Walsh

Three Monroe residents and an unsuccessful bidder have sued the Town of Monroe, claiming its decision to purchase a closed movie theater for use as offices and courts violated state open meeting and environmental laws.

State Supreme Court Justice Elaine Slobod on Wednesday denied a request by the residents and Goshen builder Peter Berman to block financing for the purchase, which closed on Dec. 14. She did, however, order that the town not begin any renovations.

Both sides are to submit all arguments on Feb. 1.

Benjamin Ostrer, a Chester attorney, represents Monroe residents Emily Convers, Margaret Farrell-Fasano and Charles Lesser, a former Monroe village trustee who owns a jewelry business downtown, as well as Berman, the Goshen builder who unsuccessfully bid for the theater. Ostrer told the court that an online petition opposing the purchase had been signed by 1,800 people.

A Town Board meeting last month drew a crowd, including about two dozen speakers who criticized the purchase of the Monroe 6 Cinemas at a Nov. 16 auction. There was anger over a lack of public discussion about the $880,000 purchase, and the lack of a cost estimate for renovating at least part of the 26,852-square-foot building.

Town Supervisor Sandy Leonard and board members have said they saw the purchase as a deal for the town that would eliminate handicapped-accessibility issues at the court building, consolidate municipal offices and provide theater space for public gatherings such as cultural events.

Leonard declined to comment Wednesday on the advice of attorneys representing the town.

One of the attorneys, Robert Krahulik of Warwick, said the Town Board acted properly when it discussed the purchase in a closed-door session. Councilman Richard Colon, who made the winning bid, said after the auction that he had been authorized by the board to bid as much as $1 million.

Robert Freeman, executive director of the Committee on Open Government, agreed that an executive session was appropriate to discuss the bid. "If everyone else knows about it, someone will bid one dollar more," Freeman said Wednesday in an interview.

Slobod also must decide whether the town gave scant attention to the State Environmental Quality Review Act. Opponents complained that the board decided its purchase would have no detrimental impact at the same late-night budget workshop when it authorized bidding for the property. Colon first alerted the board around midnight that the auction was scheduled in the morning.

"The adoption of the resolution to bid on the property was a late-night action," the lawsuit states, "taken less than 12 hours before the auction, thus ensuring that the public would not be aware of and/or participate in the town's SEQRA review process."

"They weren't just buying a building," Ostrer told the court, "they were buying a building to renovate it."